It has something romantically old-fashioned about Beautiful Star–it seems almost like finding a gem that has been buried in another century but it sounds so very up to date. The former Cisco frontman, Sean T MacLeod (who has worked with the producer of U2, Paul Barrett) has produced a track that lies squarely between the pop ambition and the rock discovery.
The song starts with piano which creates an instant welcoming base before the guitar work layers themselves into the song. It is rich without being too fussed, complicated without being out of its music. The vocals by MacLeod are truly sublime in this case, they are so smooth and harmonious, they sound so airy being combined with the instrumentation, and so easy, which is unbelievable to consider the complex harmonic background to that song.
The most impressive fact is that MacLeod strikes a balance between being accessible and deep so easily. The tune is permanently stuck in your head, that cool guitar melody winding around it, the production is an instant 1960s power pop filtered through a psychedelic perspective. Harmonies of the vocals are Beach Boys-inspired, there is a bit of Beatles-like sophistication in the chords, though none of it ever comes across as derivative.
Lyrically, Beautiful Star is touching toward something larger, philosophical questions of being and our role in the universe, delivered with a sense of pop instead of pomp. It is this mixture that renders the work of MacLeod so compelling: he is obviously thinking a lot, but does not want to put a listener to task with his obscurity.
What comes out is a song that is fitting to listen to and hear attentively. It is painstakingly written, played so well, and so bracingly ambitious–evidence that smart pop music does not necessarily make the artist coldblooded and coldhearted. MacLeod remains one of the most promising talents in Ireland.
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